Oxy-acetylene cutting torch tips occasionally become clogged with foreign matter, such as carbonaceous material resulting from backfiring of the gases through the tip, or nozzle, or ingestion of oxidized metal which lodges within one of the small outlet passageways of the tip, thereby plugging the tip and causing the cutting torch to operate in an erratic and unsatisfactory manner.
Special reams or drills of various sizes are available for probing into and cleaning torch tips. These reams are generally suitable for removing soft material before it has been coked into a solidified mass. However an undue amount of time is required to insert each of the cleaner reamers into each of the radially spaced torch tip outlet passageways. Often an improper size reamer is selected and ultimately the outlet passageways are unduly enlarged thereby causing excessive flow of combustibles therethrough. Sometimes the cleaner reamer becomes stuck and broken within a passageway, causing the torch tip to be discarded.
It is therefore desirable to be able to remove a torch tip from the end of an oxy-acetylene cutting torch apparatus and remove debris from the flow passageways thereof by merely placing the tip along with a blank cartridge within a special tool, striking the tool against some hard surface, whereupon the resulting explosive force of the gases from the cartridge removes debris from the passageways of the tip, thereby rapidly restoring the tip to a satisfactory working condition in a new and improved manner.